Jul 16, 2012

March 7, 1970: Santa Monica

GRATEFUL DEAD REALLY CHANGE SANTA MONICA

The quiet little town of Santa Monica will never be the same as over five thousand people watched the beautiful resurrection of San Francisco's Grateful Dead.
Yessiree, motorists driving down Highway One witnessed one of the strangest experiences as Frisco's big and beautiful heart made its way down the highway carrying with it five golden coffins waiting to be placed on the stage of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
Sharply at nine thirty, all five coffins opened and out came the ghostly figures of the "Dead."
The Grateful Dead are one of the first creators of the San Francisco sound and around the early 60s were known as the "Warlocks."
Following them and contributing to this new sound was Big Brother and the Holding Company, a minor hit before Janis Joplin joined them, and the Jefferson Airplane.
Because of the fantastic sound system, one could hear them anywhere in the auditorium and were continuously sending out good vibrations.
Along with the numerous solos done by each of the members of the "Dead," Bob Wher also did a few of his "put on" jokes to tickle the audience's funny bone.
Along with the Grateful Dead was a relatively new group called Cold Blood. Unlike the book or the film, this group doesn't send chills up your back but, like the "Dead," sends out a lot of good sounds.
Perhaps the only other group that can successfully accomplish this feat is John Heisman's Coliseum.

1 comment:

One of the worst contemporary show reviews I've seen. While it's true that Zacherle came onstage in a coffin on 2/14/70 to introduce the show, somehow I doubt the Dead ever did. I have strong doubts as to whether the reviewer was even at this show - though granted, she did mention Weir's jokes. The band mentioned at the end was actually Jon Hiseman's group Colosseum, a British prog jazz/rock band.